Staff crunch at German airline TUIfly leads to cancelled flights

German airline TUIfly had to cancel nearly all its flights on Friday, affecting thousands of passengers due to an acute shortage of staff.

All other flights from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are cancelled for October 7 due to current crew shortages,&quot; TUIfly said in a statement.

According to a spokesperson of TUIfly, a large number of cockpit and cabin staff were on sick leave and is the reason behind the cancellations. Meanwhile, the company promised to try its best to minimize the affect of cancellations on its passengers.

German media reported that the airline was about to be restructured and employees were afraid
of losing their jobs.

German Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt said that it was an
unacceptable situation.

The minister said, &quot;of course, restructuring processes are also burdensome for employees. But it is important that the reliability of the flights should be maintained in such restructuring processes and the customers do not suffer from it.